My god ! Posts like this are EXACTLY the reason there are protests ! The references to Centrelink, Welfare, Hippies, freeloaders... Amen.
Make your mind up darling are they freeloaders, or are they richkids who wouldn't give up all that money ? The sheep never seem to be able to make up their own minds so for them, it's best to argue both, that way they're at least 50% correct.
if you must know; many of them are students, lawyers, doctors, PROFESSIONALS- or in some cases; on a path to becoming qualified to becoming professionals at University; you know- that place where they teach you to use capital letters and correct grammar and where freethinking and rebellion is not merely tolerated; but ENCOURAGED. How these people pay for dinner has absolutely ZERO relevance to their beliefs. How are they "freeloading"? Go and spend a night lying on the concrete in Melbourne and then talk to me about sacrificing comfort for your beliefs.... Is it nice and warm and cozy there in your living room while you type your rhetoric ?
Surely you don't mean to imply that they are freeloaders because they are sleeping on that lovely warm cobblestone for free rent?!!!!
"Take away their welfare payments ?"
Wow. If any of those protesters are from low socio-economic backgrounds or being supported by a support payment to study or volunteer, then how is taking away their food going to change anything ? They are protesting about the very foundations of our country's financial system; the system that bails out banks who pay their execs in 7 figures; politicians who give themselves 6 figure raises; and ironically the attitude that as taxpayers we have no say over how our country's wealth is spent. See below.
Just as you have a right to whinge (without basis) about freeloaders and welfare and hippies; I have a right to comment or protest on our government's inability to share said wealth. And unless you run a casino up there in Broken Hill I suggest you open your mind to the fact that some of us "hippies" actually earn $500K plus a year- and pay more tax every year than your entire household does in 5 years !
While you cry about how your tax dollars pay bludgers; I sit back and pray that even a quarter of what I pay in tax goes to the needy. And before you go crying "silver spoons" from the hilltops let me state that I grew up in relative poverty in South Western Sydney and saw first hand how hard it is to start behind everyone else; and thanks to study and determination and PROTEST I made my way up the ladder; yet I havent forgotten where I come from; I still volunteer and donate MY money wherever I can.
When is the last time you fed the homeless or donated to a charity for no reason other than it was the right thing to do ?
Unless you have tried to make a difference then you have no right to disrespect those who DO.
Jam that in your signature.
So there you have it- it's always the low income earners who stand up for middle Australia, while middle and upper Oz bathes in champagne and whinges about those hippies. Country Australia is so far behind the times that it's scary. How you saw fit to make this about YOU and welfare support blows my mind. You 'dun opened up a can, Jeanneinneneninnnne.
Since I'm not Australian, I'll keep this brief. It's your country to do with as you please, so if you want to roll over and "take it", it's your prerogative as a tax paying Australian. The global phenomenon known as "Occupy [insert name]" is about class disparity. I submit that the people whingeing about protesters haven't a clue what that means. The simplest and quickest illustrations I can give you, in hopes you'll open your eyes and get off your ****, are as follows:
Kevin Rudd was stripped of the Prime Minister's role over "his support for a mining tax". Those who could afford to, managed to sway public opinion just enough to pass it anyway. We now have a mining tax. Bla bla bla.. carbon tax. That these taxes were political suicide not two years ago, and somehow they are now "good for Australians", is testament to the effectiveness of the machine. In laymans terms, it will now cost you more for a metal toilet roll holder and of course, to turn on the kettle for a cuppa, but you got an income tax break in the last budget right?
Who here has had the opportunity to walk up to their employer, while that employer was just managing to keep his/her head above water, and given themselves a $90,000 p/a pay hike and gotten away with it? C'mon, I'm not seeing any hands. Higher please. That's what I thought. Your un-elected Prime Minister (read "public servant") has just given herself a 24% pay hike, courtesy of you. The part that makes me laugh the most is that her approval rating is 36%! So here is a public servant, that you did not elect, and almost two thirds of you think she does a crap job, but you're allowing her to pay herself an extra $90k out of your pockets?!?! You're not outraged by this?!?! I think I need a drink. This is an excellent example of a shamocracy. Even the leader of the opposition, a man that thinks wearing "budgie smugglers" in public is appropriate for a shadow head of state, netted himself an extra $74K.
I could go on, but I am heading for a confrontation with the Australian "Anti Sedition" laws. There's a gem that I'll bet even jenneane wouldn't have a clue about!
It's all fine and nice to sip a cappuccino, and call the "hippeis" welfare bums, and wallow in your own reflected crapulence. The "kapo" mentality is alive and well. As the Pirate pointed out, they are mostly young go-getters, who thankfully, have elected to get out from behind the keyboard and get their hands dirty.
Oh, and don't get me started on the "central banking" system, interest rates, etc. You should already understand how all of that works. Enjoy the next cut to to the cash rate! PMSL! These are the types of issues the "hippie protesters" are fighting against.
